Northwest Herald wins 14 awards

The Northwest Herald won 14 awards in the annual Illinois Associated Press Editors Association contest in its division of newspapers with a circulation of less than 40,000.

Staff members Chelsea McDougall, Al Lagattolla and Joan Oliver took first place in the Enterprise Series category for the their series "Confronting the Bully."

Photographers Sarah Nader, in the Feature Photo category, and Josh Peckler, in the Sports Action Photo category, each won first place awards.

The editorial staff took first place in the Multimedia Storytelling category and in the Public Service for its Everyday Heroes special section.

Sports Reporter Joe Stevenson won first place in the Sports Column or Blog category.

Nader and Photo Editor H.Rick Bamman also received second place awards. Dave Lemery received a second place award in the informational graphic category. The editorial staff took second place in the General Excellence category.

McDougall, Peckler, Assistant Business Editor Brett Rowland and reporter Katie Anderson also received third place awards.

Reporter Emily Coleman won two first place awards for her work at Northwest Herald sister publication Sauk Valley Media. One was in the feature category, and the other was for breaking news coverage of Rita Crundwell's $54 million financial fraud in Dixon.